NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- The International Criminal Court has sent officials to Kenya to interview potential witnesses for trials over violence following the 2007 election.

Sylvana Arbia, an ICC representative, said 79 communities and 320 individuals have come forward, saying they were victims, The Nation reported.

"We are already protecting witnesses and we will never ask a witness to testify if this puts them at risk," she said.

More than 1,000 people were killed and thousands of others forced from their homes after President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the Dec. 27, 2007, vote. In February 2008, Kibaki agreed to a coalition government in which Raila Odinga, the principal opposition candidate, became prime minister.

The investigation, led by Luis Moreno-Ocamp, the ICC prosecutor, is still in a preliminary phase, Arbia said. She said that once he is ready to issue arrest warrants the court will need cooperation from the Kenyan government to detain suspects.

The ICC is based in The Hague.